Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!, (Shortened to Watashi ga Motenai for the sake of reviewing), is a manga about an antisocial girl named Tomoko Kuroki whose only desire is to cut loose of her shut in ways and become popular so she can get a boyfriend,but that's easier said than done... Especially when you're too socially awkward to talk to a boy, let alone an actual human being.

Now on the surface this manga doesn't look remotely entertaining but it slowly,but surely, sucks you into it and days later you'll find yourself thinking "Gee, I wonder how she's going to embarrass
herself in the next chapter."

The real treat for the people reading this manga is for anyone who has also gone through anything Tomoko has.... From embarrassing herself in public, to being socially awkward around just about anyone and anything, she truly is the definition of a loser. And it's sad because you just can't help from laughing at all the mistakes she makes while trying to socialize with people.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this manga to anyone who has had antisocial moments at any point in their life,(me), because you will find the situations she's in really similar to situations that you yourself have experienced.

When it comes to popularity and being the talk of the student body, I wouldn't know, but when it comes to anime, video games and manga, then hey, conversation topics can never end, Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaerea ga Warui features a high school girl who's both of those characteristics, even though the former is a delusion of embarrassing proportions.
The series revolves around a shut in girl who's never actually had social interactions with anyone (Save for her friend in middle school and occasional reply when someone asks or need something from her), Kuroki Tomoko (Think of her as Konata from
Lucky Star but in a more realistic sense, what Konata would actually be like in real life) is what she brings up several times, a Mojo, an unpopular unattractive girl, and takes this chance to change herself to be popular in high school and attempt to get a boyfriend, mostly through strange and unorthodox ways (From failed attempts to pretty herself, to thinking that playing an otome game makes her attractive because how it turns her on).

The series mostly operates as an episodic oddball comedy, but not to the point of being random or over the top. But rather than being an average comedy, it's more like a mirror to the reader in a sense, her actions can lead anyone reading to avoiding to look, and even groan or facepalm, especially to those who are in the deepest depths of the anime and manga fandom, but what can she do? She's always been strange and unsociable, but her actions can remind the unfavorable misfortunes of others who may have experienced her misadventures similar to their own.
However, in some ways she's not exactly someone to applaud for when her own attitude is rather uglier than she thinks her appearance is, thinking she's above everyone and cursing out anyone "normal" and wishing death among her peers in her mind, kinda makes you realize why she's unpopular in the first place.
In turn though, it's makes her character rather interesting, and a fascinating one to observe, especially in one chapter where she meets up her old friend from middle school, thinking that her friend is just like she is, she starts to feel a sense of security, only to find out that her friend has drastically changed her appearance and adapted to high school life while Kuroki is still the same as she ever was, but at least her friend hasn't changed on the inside, making Kuroki a little more inspired to change herself.

The artwork is average at best, but does a great job at showing Kuroki's emotions, but looks rather sloppy at times and kinda simple.

This manga is something I highly recommend to anyone in the anime and manga community who has ever felt like an outsider socially, Kuroki's action are cringe worthy and sometimes to the point of being disgusting, but her endeavors are interesting to watch unfold, and she will most likely be easy to relate with for good and bad, but endearing none the less.

Disclaimer: I only picked this manga back up recently after a long period of time. My memory may not be perfect.

WataMote is a manga not to be taken lightly; if you've already been through high school or currently going through it, you'll probably have a harrowing experience. All the embarrassing situations, self-deprecation, you'll going to be reminded of. It's a comedy at heart, so don't expect any kind of drama at all.

I'm not going to go through everything in this review, instead, I'm going to concentrate on one aspect the previous reviews have skipped (due to they were written in a different time period): this
is a manga of 3 acts - currently at least. Be advised, minor spoilers if you don't want to know about this.

What I mean is at first, you'll have Tomoko - the protagonist - driving herself into embarrassing, cringeworthy situations and have her comeuppance. I had hard time sympathizing with her, since she almost always had her own hand in her undoing. Kind of like a teenager girl version of Dick Dastardly - I'm not even kidding. Each chapter had this dynamic and it was kind of a hit or miss. You could have started it anywhere and you wouldn't have missed anything.

At chapter 46, one of Tomoko's old acquaintance is introduced. It means she starts to interact with other people in her life other than her brother Tomoki and Yuu, her "friend" from junior high. The tone of the manga changes somewhat because of that.

And there's the current act, which starts around chapter 70. The manga introduces a whole bunch of new characters. There seems to be a continuation as well. I'm not going to spoil anything beyond that, but let's just say the new characters changed the manga for the better. It was a great decision, at least from a story perspective.

I get it if this won't convince you. Going through so many chapters so you can get to the good part may not be your cup of tea and you probably value your time here. Good thing is the chapters are usually very short, no more than 10 pages. You might want to take a breath sometimes though because of all the cringe, especially at the early chapters.

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui! (or Watamote for short) is a slice of life anime about a high school girl named Tomoko Kuroki. If you think that you're socially awkward, wait until you read the story of Tomoko. She has such a hard time with even the most basic conversations that she almost brings herself to vomiting. She praises her skill with romance games as being equal to real-life experience yet she can't even say two words to people.

Tomoko spends the duration of the story trying different quirky things that are supposed to help her make friends but
in the end, all she does it make a fool out of herself. The anime is very a light-heart story that has some moments of despair every now and then. For the most part, it's a comedy that many people who have experienced social awkwardness can relate to which allows the viewer to have some sympathy for Tomoko that creates a desire to see her succeed in her endeavors.

While all other characters take a back seat in the manga, it's interesting to see Tomoko's relationships with the very few people in her life and how much her personality differs by each person. From being a stubborn annoyance to her brother to being an energetic otaku around her best (and only) friend.

The few characters in the show all have interesting personalities and the art design is very enjoyable. 9/10

Its one great manga. It strays from the "put lovers everywhere" attitude most manga are appealing to and instead centers on the single goal of making the life of a single girl one major hell on earth. A refresh is that finally the fail is not on the boy, but on the girl depicted. Certainly not the most original take ever published on manga but well executed nonetheless.

One thing of note however is that this manga could benefit of a different format. Since the reader already knows that Tomoko is a major screw up it gets tiring to read only the small details. There are
little pages per chapter too so theres not a lot you can do. That said, the manga would benefit a lot from another support character or two. It could shine a lot from 4koma if that was the case but too late for that.

The art is relaxed. Im not sure if thats intentional. It sure feels like the authors want to pass to the reader more feelings of fail through the poor art but this is a double edged sword and its not always clear when they are doing it intentionally or just slacking off. Anyway, this is not major for a manga such as this so its forgiven.

Its probably a manga that is safe for making friends too. You can give this to someone without fear of being labeled an otaku, which is rarity nowadays, if you even care about that. If you are reading this review however, you probably dont, so have fun.

I'll start this review with this phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover", or rather in Watamote's case "Don't judge a manga by its first 40 chapters". The reason for this is because the first 40 chapters are somewhat of an introductory storyline where you essentially learn about the MC Tomoko and her socially awkward, and somewhat petty personality. Although it does get monotonous throughout that, and I'd recommend you just skim through those parts if you don't want to be bothered.

But after that, the manga slowly starts to take a shift in tone. It all starts as Tomoko tries to reconnect with her
old friends, thus requiring her to socialize more than what she's comfortable with, which creates some rather hilarious moments. As the manga goes on more and more characters are introduced, and their interactions with Tomoko and her obscene and straight forward language makes way for what is one of the most hilarious manga that I've ever read.

Besides the humor you also do get a sense of progression of the plot through following Tomoko's journey through high school (or junior high?), working on herself little by little to overcome her social anxiety. But that is not really what is important, since it's essentially a gag manga that is episodically structured. Rather than that, focus on secondary characters are emphasized in the later chapters, with each character bringing a unique and absurd dynamic to the story.

It felt like it was never going to develop further when I read the first 30 chapters, but I'm glad I picked it up again. If you follow it past the 40 something chapters it's a manga well worth the read, and its sure to make you laugh uncontrollably every time. Also I recommend you don't watch the anime as it likely only encompasses the pre development chapters (1~40).

If you're like me, then most of the reason you read manga, is because you like to see the development of relationships and characters. This series does that really well in my opinion. I think the development of Kuroki (the main character) is done very well. It doesn't feel rushed like I've seen in other stories. She and the other characters are also much more human feeling. She's kind of a terrible, petty person but it makes her more relatable, interesting and in a strange way very likeable. Her sort of delusional views of people and situations make for some extremely funny moments that had
me in tears laughing. All the characters are distinct and enjoyable.

On a side note. If you're in it for the funny, you need to read through her second year. The first year I felt more sympathetic and bad for her but it still had some very funny and cringy moments. But her second year is where things get much more funny in my opinion. I really wish the anime had continued past her first year primarily for this reason.

Out of 100 Nobles watching...
80 were impressed!
10 found something to be desired in character designs and expressions.
5 got sick of Tomoko's perpetual terribleness.
5 are angry they can't describe what's happened in this dang manga without people looking at them weird.

Because I'm not popular, I'll write a review.
"Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!" or as everyone calls it for short "Watamote" is a story about an unpopular girls high school debut and the beginning of her own personal quest to combat her extreme social anxiety in an attempt to not be a loner.

The story itself is extremely unique in it's absurdity
and unrelenting penchant for creating the most awkwardly painful situations for our protagonist to experience. The visuals of the series are rather fair with the artist falling back on a lot of the same faces and poses but presenting some unique and fun panels for good payoff. I would say however that this manga shines in its comedic appeal and writing and not on the merits of its visuals.

Saying I get a lot of enjoyment from the manga is kind of an Oxymoron as the main character Tomoko Kuroki is genuinely a very negative and mean person and many of the horribly awkward and terrible experiences she faces are brought onto herself by her own actions.

Many people seem to read the series for the schadenfreude obtained from Tomoko's suffering but I've honestly enjoyed the story for it's slow build to Tomoko obtaining friends and learning social skills. It's kind of like watching one of those weird legged robots with a learning computer teach itself to walk. In addition I find myself earnestly wishing for the happiness of the supporting cast of characters. Despite Tomoko's awkward and mean-spirited nature she seems to enrich people's lives regardless and that's a sweet message... I think...

The series has a 12 episode anime adaptation of the first few volumes of the book which covers the material fairly well, but given that we're likely never getting a second season and there is so much more content that goes so much farther than where the anime leaves off I would heavily recommend giving this a read. Just be aware it's very hard to describe what exactly this manga IS and why you ENJOY it to your friends. Go on. Try. They'll probably awkwardly get quiet or just look at you with empty eyes!

... I guess the story was probably written that way to give you an immersive Tomoko Kuroki experience...

I personally love Watamote (It's not my fault I'm not popular!). The main character Tomoko Kuroki is very relate able. The story is much like Nichijou, not following a linear story path but keeping some aspects from older chapters intact. I love this manga, this can be a hit and miss from time to time ( like Space Dandy) but overall gives a better interpretation of high school than any other manga i've read thus far.

"It's not my fault I'm not popular" is a manga by Tanigawa Nico who is also the author of "Choku!". The manga centers around a socially awkward, socially inept, shy shut in named Kuroki Tomoko who has just entered high school and is searching for someone to call a friend or a boyfriend. Tomoko has absolutely no social skills, can barely hold a conversation longer than a minute and considers hellos and goodbyes as some of her most successful attempts at conversing with people. Deep down she wants to have friends and be able to talk with boys normally, but doesn't have the nerves or
social skills to do so. As the title of this post already states, this manga is definitely one of the most depressing mangas in existence and makes you feel sorry for her every chapter. Tomoko has a pretty lonely life and as a bit of a loner myself, I really relate to her as strange as it may seem. That is most likely the thing about this manga that keeps me reading and once you start reading, the thing you want to see most is for her to have a better future and obtain friends. Tomoko really is one of those characters you just become attached too, and you end up sharing her pain as you read along, chapter after chapter, rooting for her to do better. "It's not my fault I'm not popular is truly a depressing, yet amazing manga that deserves more recognition in the manga world.